“What?!” Zu An and Yu Yanluo both exclaimed in shock. After all, they had fought against the Gray Wolf King before. It was at the ninth rank, and its body was massive. It would be difficult even for a human master ranked cultivator to defeat such a creature, and yet such a powerful vicious beast had actually been eaten?
Kong Qing frowned as he continued, “My injuries were also caused by that beast.”
Zu An and Yu Yanluo were even more shocked. After all, the Gray Wolf King had been Kong Qing’s mount, which meant the creature would have had to face two powerful experts. Even the infamous but powerful cultivators Paper Bride and Venom Child had been there to help them. And yet, the creature had actually wounded Kong Qing and eaten the Gray Wolf King?
“Just what kind of thing is it?” Zu An asked.
“I don’t know,” Kong Qing said through gritted teeth.
“You don’t know?” Zu An exclaimed in disbelief.
He wouldn’t even have been too shocked even if he had been told it was the Emperor, Zhao Han himself; and yet, the reply was actually that they didn’t know? Kong Qing was a master rank cultivator. There were so many powerful experts present, and yet they hadn’t even seen what had attacked them?
Kong Qing’s group looked a bit embarrassed when they sensed Zu An’s strange expression. Paper Bride explained, “There’s always a black fog surrounding that creature when it comes and goes, so we couldn’t see its full appearance at all. Furthermore, that black fog is extremely corrosive. Not even spiritual sense can penetrate it.”
“That is why we were caught off guard when we were ambushed,” Kong Qing explained, a hint of fear flickering through his eyes. As a master rank cultivator, he could usually clearly perceive his surroundings. He never could have expected there to be something lurking nearby that he couldn’t sense at all. He continued, “It suddenly emerged from underground, slaughtering the Gray Wolf King in an instant. The wolf didn’t even have time to retaliate.”
“The creature killed it instantly?” Zu An asked, exchanging a look with Yu Yanluo. Just how terrifying did it have to be to instantly slaughter a ninth-ranked Gray Wolf King?
“Did you not have a chance to retaliate?” Yu Yanluo asked curiously. Those present were all top-ranked cultivators. With the Gray Wolf King as their meat shield, they should at least have been able to react, right?
“We did, but our attacks didn’t seem to be effective against it.” Paper Bride said with a miserable expression.
“Nothing at all?” Zu An replied with a frown. Even if it were Yan Xuehen who had to face these experts’ combined attacks, she would still have to pay a bit of a price, right?
Kong Qing was the one present with the highest cultivation. He said seriously, “That is what I have been thinking over all this time. It is a bit strange indeed. After thinking about it, it is probably because most of us excel in spiritual attacks, but that monster seems to be immune to them. That was why our attacks were completely useless against it.”
Only then did Zu An realize that Kong Qing, Paper Bride, and Venom Child all specialized in spiritual attacks. They would definitely use their most powerful skills as soon as they sensed danger. How could they have expected that their opponent would be immune to such attacks? Meanwhile, the dark elf was proficient in physical attacks, but his cultivation was a bit lower. It would have been difficult for him to harm that creature by himself.
He suddenly recalled Yu Bin’s recording and asked, “Did you all hear some strange, terrifying noise before it attacked?”
“Strange, terrifying noise?” Kong Qing replied with a frown. “We didn’t.”
“You didn’t?” Zu An asked in confusion. Wasn’t that different from what Yu Bin had written?
Venom Child said in a sinister tone, “I did hear some strange noise like what you described, but when we were ambushed, everything around us was quiet.”
Zu An nodded. It seemed the monster fell silent when it was hunting for prey, making it even harder to defend against.
Kong Qing asked, “Do you have a map of this mine? We want to return to the surface, but we have been trapped here for the past few days.” His face heated up when he thought of that. He was a master rank cultivator with so many powerful subordinates, and yet he had actually gotten lost in the mine.
It wasn’t his fault, though. The cave paths were convoluted and dimly lit, making it easy to get lost. They had also needed to flee for their lives when they were ambushed by the monster, not knowing where they were going while running away. In addition, they had been surrounded by the black fog, preventing their senses from reaching too far. That was how they had gotten completely lost.
Even though such experts all had spatial storages, which meant the supply of food and normal goods wasn’t a problem, there was a powerful creature in hiding that was ready to prey on them at a moment’s notice. Their mental states were left on the verge of collapse.
Yu Yanluo didn’t respond directly and instead asked, “Did any of you encounter my subordinates along the way?”
Kong Qing’s group shook their heads as he replied, “We did not see a single other soul these past few days, or else we would not have gotten lost.”
Zu An and Yu Yanluo concluded that made sense as well. If Kong Qing’s group had seen Maid Xing and the others, why would they asked for a map?
“Are you all planning to leave just like that? You don’t want to get revenge for the Gray Wolf King?” Yu Yanluo asked with a frown.
To her surprise, Kong Qing said, “The weak are prey for the strong; that is the basic law of the world. It was weaker than its opponent, so it is natural that it was eaten. What is more important is to preserve the rest of our strength. If we lose more companions for the sake of revenge, the losses will not make up for the gains.”
The others all treated his response as completely natural. They didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with what he said.
Yu Yanluo was speechless. She couldn’t help but give Zu An a look, saying to him through ki, “I really can’t understand how the fiend races think, nor can I accept their actions.”
Zu An replied, “That means your way of thinking is still biased in favor of humans, and you acknowledge humans more. That bastard Xu Yu really is insane for treating you as a fiend race individual.”
Yu Yanluo replied sadly, “I won’t be able to go back to the human world anymore, and I can’t stay in the fiend race territories either.”
Zu An smiled and said, “You can just stay with me. I’ll always welcome you.”
Yu Yanluo felt warm inside and couldn’t help but smile.
Kong Qing saw the two of them look at each other, but he only assumed they were discussing things with each other. How could he have guessed what the two of them were really talking about?
As the two didn’t agree to his request even after a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, “Coming down here without permission is our fault. We will offer Madam Yu compensation for this in the future. Furthermore, if the two of you can offer us a way to leave this place, we will owe you a favor. You will also obtain the friendship of our Peacock race.”
Zu An thought about how Yu Yanluo was about to return to the fiend race territories. The Peacocks were kings among the fiend races as well, so having them take care of her would be a good choice.
Either way, there would be no meaning in forcing them to stay and face the monster. These fierce individuals would never agree to that. Considering their naturally malicious tendencies, who knew what kind of things they would do to save their own skins in a real critical situation? Perhaps they might even scheme against Zu An and Yu Yanluo, taking advantage of them to escape…
As such, Zu An nodded and agreed to the request, saying, “Sir Kong is too polite. Having another friend is always better than having another enemy in this world.”
Kong Qing was happy to see him agree, but he still wasn’t too sure. He quickly looked at Yu Yanluo. She was the true master of the mine, and she hadn’t spoken yet.
Yu Yanluo nodded and added, “I agree with what Zu An said as well.”
“Thank you!” Kong Qing replied, but he found it a bit strange. Why did Yu Yanluo sound like a wife speaking up in support of her spouse?
But no matter how he racked his brains, he never would have thought that the Madam Yu who kept her distance no matter which individual approached her now shared feelings with this young man.
Yu Yanluo’s brush moved through the air quickly, and streaks of light swirled around. A simple map quickly appeared in the air. Naturally, she didn’t give them the entire map, instead only drawing out a small portion. She explained, “This is where we are right now. If you head down this direction, you will be able to return to the surface.”
“Thank you, Madam Yu!” Kong Qing replied. Those present were all experts; being widely-read and knowledgeable was the bare minimum. They immediately memorized the map in the air, so there was no need for a physical copy.
Kong Qing and the others were about to leave when they heard scratching in the cave. It was extremely uncomfortable, resembling fingernails scraping against a blackboard.
The group’s expressions all changed; the noise was very close, almost as if it were completely surrounding them.
Kong Qing and the others became vigilant. Zu An noticed that even though they were in a group, they still kept their distance from each other, clearly not daring to trust their backs to anyone. They had to be on guard against their companions too.
Zu An didn’t criticize their behavior. They were all elites from the underground world, after all; blindly trusting their companions would be stupid. However, he and Yu Yanluo didn’t have such misgivings. They trusted each other and just warned each other to be careful.
Suddenly, strange noises filled the air. Zu An broke out into goosebumps. It sounded just like the background tracks from his previous world’s horror movies.
He tried to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from, but because of the mine’s special terrain, there were cavities everywhere. Every single opening seemed like a horn, resonating and amplifying the noise. It was impossible to identify where they came from. He then tried to sense the surroundings with his soul, but he discovered that there were several clouds of black mist in the surroundings, cutting off his soul’s senses.
Powerful cultivators were used to scanning their surroundings first, but at that moment, it felt as if they had become blind and deaf, so all those present felt extremely uncomfortable.
Suddenly, the terrifying sounds ceased, and an eerie calm fell on the area.
Zu An thought back to Kong Qing’s description. It seemed that the monster was already preparing to attack!
